Airship



Oct. 10, 1967 I P. DESMARTVEAU AIRSHIP 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 20,1965 INVENTOR 0 Paul DESHARTEAU AGENT Oct. 10, 1967 P. DE'SMARTEAU 3 9AIRSHIP Filed July 20, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR Paul DESIYARTEAUUnited States Patent 3,346,216 AIRSHIP Paul Desmarteau, 711 Le LaboureurAva, Boucherville, Quebec, Canada Filed July 20, 1965, Ser. No. 473,432Claims priority, application Canada, July 23, 1964, 907,907 13 Claims.(Cl. 24430) The present invention relates to a dirigible balloon, orairship, and, more particularly, to an airship of the type which isinflated with hot gases, to produce the required forces for the airshipto be air-borne.

Airships of known type generally use a lighter than air gas forsustentating the same. These gases are generally expensive and oftendangerous. Moreover, most airships built to date had rigid structureswhich necessitated accurate adjustment of the different constitutingelements, which were expensive to manufacture compared to theirdimensions and their bearing capacity, and were vulnerable to collisionsand were affected by hurricanes and other atmospheric turbulences.

The general object of the present invention resides in the provision ofa dirigible, or airship, which obviates the disadvantages mentionedhereinabove and which constitutes an important improvement in thebuilding technique of dirigibles.

A more specific object of the present invention resides in the provisionof a dirigible, or airship, which is inflated and air-borne by hot gasesproduced by the propulsion means.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of anairship of the character described, in which the propulsion means servealso as sustentation means.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of anairship of the character described, in which the propulsion means do notproduce any torque on the airship structure.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of anairship of the character described, which can be built to any desiredsize, including very large sizes, because its construction is modular.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of an airshipof the character described, which is VI'j stable in its handling, whichis relatively only slightly affected by atmospheric conditions,including hurricanes, because steering is produced by an orientablepropulsion jet which is independent of the ambient atmosphere.

' Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of adirigible of the character described, which is very economical tooperate.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention willbecome more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring tothe drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a partial side elevation and partial longitudinal section ofthe airship;

FIGURE 2 is a schematic transverse section of the airship in operatingcondition;

FIGURE 3 is a similar transverse section of the airship in its stoppedcondition;

FIGURE 4 is a partial section of the central duct showing the manner ofattaching the duct to the cable system;

FIGURE 5 is a partial cross-section of the envelope, or membrane,showing one manner of attaching the same to the cable system;

FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal partial section, on an enlarged scale, of thebow of the airship; and

FIGURE 7 is an elevation, on a smaller scale, of the "ice gasstratifierwhich is located rearwardly of the turbo jet engine.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which like referencecharacters indicate like elements throughout, the airship in accordancewith the invention comprises a membrane, or envelope 1, which isgas-proof and in inflated condition, of elongated shape and generallyelliptical, having a bow 2 and a stem 3.

Membrane 1 is made of a flexible material such as aluminum foillaminated with a synthetic resin, such as the plastic known under theregistered trademark Tedlar, said trademark being owned by the DuPontCompany, or other similar product.

The internal face of membrane 1 is lined with a heat insulating material4, as shown in FIGURE 5. Membrane 1 is covered on its external surfaceby a net 5 having generally rectangular or elongated mesh and which ispreferably constituted by bands having a high resistance to tension andadhering to membrane 1. The junction points of the bands making thenetting 5 are attached to the outer ends of retaining cables 6 whichextend through membrane 1 and through insulating material 4, radiallyinwardly of the envelope 1.

The retaining cables 6 are spacedly arranged along the circles definedby the corresponding transverse sections of the airship and over theentire length of the airship.

The inner ends of the retaining cables 6 lying in a common transverseplane are attached to a common cable 7 disposed iii the same transverseplane with respect to the airship and which form a nearly completecircle.

The majority of the several cables 7 are attached to and serve tosuspend a nacelle 8 by means of cables 9.

A duct 10, of flexible material, is disposed longitudinally withinmembrane 1 and is c0-axial therewith and opens to the atmosphere at bothends to define at the bow 2 of the envelope an inlet 11, and at thestern 3 of the envelope an outlet 12.

Duct 11 is suspended within the envelope 1 by means of radial cables 13which are attached to the common cables 7 at the junction of the latterwith the retaining cables 6. Certain of the cables 13 are attached tocables 9 for suspending the nacelle 8.

The duct 11 is made of a flexible material, yet having a high resistanceto heat and which has also a good coefficient of heat conduction. For anexample, the material used may be a cobalt alloy, or a gold plating on amaterial having a high thermal resistance.

As shown in FIGURE 4, the inside face of duct 10 is provided with anetting, or grid, of bands 14 defining generally rectangular mesh,whereas the external face of duct 10 is also provided with bands 15disposed opposite bands 14. Bands 14 and 15 adhere to the surfaces ofthe duct 10 by means of a suit-able adhesive, and the external bands 15are attached to cables 13 by any desired means.

WVhen the pressure inside duct 10 is higher than the pressure inside theannular zone 25 defined by the exterior of duct 10 and the inside ofenvelope 1; that is, when the airship is in movement, duct 10 isinflated and has a cylindrical shape, as shown in FIGURE 2, whereas whenthe airship is stopped and the pressure inside duct 10 is lower thanthat of annular zone 25, duct 10 being made of flexible material becomessomewhat deflated between its points of attachment to suspension cables13, as shown in FIGURE 3, but these cables 13 maintain the duct 10 inits co-axial position within the envelope 1.

For large airships, it is preferable to further provide a system oflongitudinally and diagonally extending cables 16 and 17, as shown inFIGURE 1, and which are attached to the several retaining cables 6 attheir junction with said cables.

Cables 16 and 17 serve also to overcome the longitudinal stressesproduced on the envelope 1 by'the propulsion means.

The system of cables which holds membrane 1 and duct 10 is based on thesame principle as the cable systems in the air-inflated shelters builtin accordance with U8. Patent 3,123,085, of March 3, 1964, by the sameinventor.

Because the netting 5 overlies membrane 1 and the knots or junctionpoints of this netting are attached to retaining cables 6 which passthrough membrane 1, the tensional stresses developed in the mesh of thenetting 5 are relieved by cables 6 at relatively closely spaced points,thereby enabling to build an airship of very large size, both indiameter and in length, without having to use cables of large diameters,because the construction defines a modular system. 7

Moreover, netting 5 limits any tearing of the membrane to a very smallarea, that is to an area corresponding to the size of a mesh, andenables to use a membrane of relatively small thickness. in inlet 11 ofduct is mounted a turbo jet engine 18 surrounded by two propellersystems driven by said turboengine 18: namely, a first propeller system19 having two stages and a second propeller system 20 of a single stage.The propeller systems 10 and 20 rotate in inverse direction.

The turbo jet engine 18 may be of any desired type, depending on thepurpose for which'the airship is used. It can have, for instance, anycombination of one or more rotors, stages, speed, or direction ofrotation.

The turbo jet engine 18 has an air inlet 22 and the air entering theengine is injected with a suitable fuel in a conventional manner. Thehot gases discharged from the turbo jet engine 18 move through a flaringduct 23 and are discharged into the center of duct 10 by passing througha system of louvre blades 24 when the latter are open.

The hot gases can also be discharged into the annular zone 25surrounding duct 10 and delimited by membrane 1 of the airship, as shownin FIGURE 6, by passing through a lateral conduit 26 which communicateswith the rear'end of flared duct 23 and the zone 25 through opening 28made in duct 10. The gasespass through lateral conduit 26 only when thesystem of louvre blades 27 disposed therein is in open position.

Propellers 19 and 20 driven by the turbo jet engine 18 producecompressed air which flows through duct 10 after having moved through anair stratifier 29, preferably of the beehive type, and within whichextends the rear end of tube 23 and also the lateral conduit 26.

Stratifier 29 is shown in front elevation in FIGURE 7. It can beprovided with a plurality of lateral conduits 26, if so desired.

Turbo jet engine 18 and the propellers 19 and 20' are preferably mountedin a restricted zone, or throat, of the duct 10 and this throat can bemade of rigid walls 30 extending to the back of rotor propeller system20, and also defining the nose or how of the airship.

The propellers '19 and 20 may have blades of the variable 'pitch type.The louvre systems 24 and 27 are controlled simultaneously in an inversedirection; that is, louvres 27 are open when louvres 24 are closed, andvice'versa. Moreover, the portion of the flared tube 23 which isdisposed within stratifier 29, is provided with bafl'les 31, the frontparts 32 of which are rigid and disposed in planes parallel to the axisof flared duct 23, and the back parts 33 of which are flexible andconnected to a common control rod 34 actuated in a reciprocating axialmovement by any desired motor means, such as an air cylinder 35 or othermechanism which operates in dependence with the means for actuatinglouvres 24 and 27.

In the position shown in FIGURE 6, bafiies 31 deflect the gas flowwhereby the hot gases coming from turbo jet engine 18 are deflectedlaterally and enter lateral conduit 26 and, eventually, annular zone 25.Baifles 31 can take a straight position in which the back parts 33 arealigned with the front part 32 and in which, louvres 24 being open andlouvres 27 being closed, the hot gases will be directly discharged inthe center of duct 10.

In the normal position of the louvres, the duct 10 is fed with a mixtureof hot gases and cold air, such that the temperature of the mixture canattain more than 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. These gases move through duct10 over the entire length thereof and, in the stern zone of the airship,pass through another stratifier 36 to ensure laminar flow of the gases,and are discharged to the exterior at high speed by passing through anejector nozzle 37 which can be tilted in any desired plane and whichserve to steer the airship. Nozzle 37 has a smaller crosssectionalareathan tube 10.

Burner nozzles 38 are preferably disposed along a transverse circle atthe forward part of duct 10 in order to produce a flame within the ductto further increase the temperature of the gases therein and thereby toincrease the speed of the airship, and also, if desired, thesustentation forces for the airship.

The bypass constituted by the lateral duct 26 serves to inject directlythe hot gases into the annular zone 25 in order to control thetemperature of the gases in said annular zone. V

Membrane 1 of the airship is provided at diflerent spaced zones,longitudinally of the airship and on the top and at the bottom thereof,with air inlet louvres 39 and air outlet louvres 40 which serve as valvemeans for closing the openings to control the temperature pressure ofthe gases within annular zone 25.

If necessary, air fans 41 are mounted in the annular zone 25 in order toprevent air stratification therein, said fans 41 being suspended bycables 42"attached to the cablesystem inside the membrane 1. Nacelle 8can be provided with a landing gear, but, preferably, said nacelle 8 ismade fluid-tight to serve as floatation means for alighting on water.Onthe ground, the airship can come very close to the ground and beanchored without the nacelle 8 touching the ground.

Duct 10 consists not only of a conduit for the discharge of gases underpressure which form a jet for propelling the airship, but alsoconstitutes a heat exchange surface with the gases located in theannular zone 25. i

These last-named gases are thus heated and serve, due

to their lower atmospheric air density, to make the airship air-borne.

When the airship is'stopped' and turbo jet engine 18 is 'not operating,the air in the annular zone 25 is maintained at the desired hightemperature by means of burner nozzles 38. When the airship is moving,turbo jet engine 1-8 operating, the burners 38 serve to increase thespeed, if desired, and also to increase the temperature of thesustentating gases in the annular zone 25. However, when the ship ismoving, the burners 38 can be turned off. If the temperature of thelifting air in zone 25 becomes too high for the manoeuvres to beeffected, fresh air can be admitted into zone 25 by means of air inletlouvres 39. Air outlet louvres 40 serve to control the pressure withinzone 25.

Lateral conduit 26 serves mainly to quickly feed hot gases in zone 25 inorder to produce quick ascension of T the airship.

The airship can be made in any desired size and can travel at relativelygreat speed, compared to airships of conventional construction, becauseit is propelled by a pure jet system and because the propulsion meansare disposed coaxially of the balloon and do not exert any torquethereon. For example, the airship in accordance with the invention canhave a length of 2400 feet with,

a maximum diameter of 700 feet'and capable of travelling at 300 milesper hour with a turbo jet engine 18 developing 5000 HP. The gastemperature in the annular zone 25 can be maintained at about 700degrees Fahrenheit. A large number of passengers or a great amount ofmerchandise can be carried in nacelle 8. The airship can be providedwith winch means to serve as a load-lifting device.

During an extended stop, the turbo jet engine 18 can be used as a fan bydriving the same by means of its starting electric motor in order tomaintain the desired pressure inside zone 25.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention has beenillustrated and described, it is understood that various modificationsmay be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An airship comprising a gas-tight flexible envelope forming, when ininflated condition, an elongated balloon, a flexible tubular ductmounted longitudinally within said envelope, a restricted rigid inletthroat at the front end of said balloon, communicating with one end ofsaid duct, a restricted discharge nozzle at the back of said balloon incommunication with the other end of said duct, air moving and hot gasproducing means mounted entirely in said throat of said duct andproducing high velocity gases moving into and expanding within theremaining part of said duct and discharging at increased speed throughsaid nozzle to propel said airship, said hot gases being in heatexchange relationship with the gases contained in an annular zonesurrounding said duct and delimited by said envelope to heat saidlast-named gases, whereby said heated last-named gases cause saidairship to become air-borne.

2. An airship as claimed in claim 1, wherein said duct is disposedco-axially of said envelope and said throat portion merges with thefront end of said envelope.

3. An airship as claimed in claim 2, wherein said air moving and hot gasproducing means consist of a turbo jet engine, and air propeller systemssurrounding and driven by said turbo jet engine.

4. An airship as claimed in claim 1, said nozzle being tiltable in allplanes to deflect the gases issuing therethrough and thus steer saidairship.

5. An airship as claimed in claim 1, further including a retaining netoverlying said envelope, retaining cables attached to said net at theirouter ends, passing through said envelope and radially inwardly directedwithin said balloon, common cables forming longitudinally spaced circlesattached to the inner ends of said retaining cables and a cable systemsuspending said duct within the inside of said common cables,

6. An airship as claimed in claim 5, further including a nacelledisposed underneath said envelope and suspended to said common cables.

7. An airship as claimed in claim 4, further including a by-pass conduitconnecting the exhaust of said turbo jet engine with said annular zoneand disposed immediately downstream from said engine in order todischarge hot gases within said annular zone.

8. An airship as claimed in claim 7, further including controlledgas-deflecting means mounted within said bypass conduit and within saidduct for selectively discharging said hot gases within said duct orwithin said annular zone.

9. An airship as claimed in claim 1, further including fuel burnersdisposed within said duct, at spaced locations to produce a flame withinsaid duct.

10. An airship as claimed in claim 1, further including gas inlet andoutlet openings in said envelope and valve means for closing saidopenings.

11. An airship as claimed in claim 1, further including aheat-insulating layer adhering to the inner face of said envelope.

12. An airship as claimed in claim 1, further including air stratifiersdisposed within said duct to produce a laminar gas flow therein.

13. An airship as claimed in claim 1, further including air fansdisposed within said annular zone to prevent Stratification of the gasesin said annular zone.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,882,387 10/ 1932 Lesh et a1.24430 2,475,786 7/ 1949 Jordan 24430 3,185,411 5/1965 Gernbe 244-30FOREIGN PATENTS 15,384 6/ 1910 Great Britain. 302,630 12/ 1928 GreatBritain.

OTHER REFERENCES Arthur, Capt. L., Flight, volume LX, issue 2232, Nov.2, 1951, p. 560.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner. T. MAJOR, Assistant Examiner,

1. AN AIRSHIP COMPRISING A GAS-TIGHT FLEXIBLE ENVELOPE FORMING, WHEN ININFLATED CONDITION, AN ELONGATED BALLOON, A FLEXIBLE TUBULAR DUCTMOUNTED LONGITUDINALLY WITHIN SAID ENVELOPE, A RESTRICTED RIGID INLETTHROAT AT THE FRONT END OF SAID BALLOON, COMMUNICATING WITH ONE END OFSAID DUCT, A RESTRICTED DISCHARGE NOZZLE AT THE BACK OF SAID BALLOON INCOMMUNICATION WITH THE OTHER END OF SAID DUCT, AIR MOVING AND HOT GASPRODUCING MEANS MOUNTED ENTIRELY IN SAID THROAT OF SAID DUCT ANDPRODUCING HIGH VELOCITY GASES MOVING INTO AND EXPANDING WITHING THEREMAINING PART OF SAID DUCT AND DISCHARGING AT INCREASED SPEED THROUGHSAID NOZZLE TO PROPEL SAID AIRSHIP, SAID HOT GASES BEING IN HEATEXCHANGE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GASES CONTAINED IN AN ANNULAR ZONESURROUNDING SAID DUCT AND DELIMITED BY SAID ENVELOPE TO HEAT SAIDLAST-NAMED GASES, WHEREBY SAID HEATED LAST-NAMED GASES CAUSE SAIDAIRSHIP TO BECOME AIR-BORNE.